They say never judge a book by its cover, but book covers do a much of the heavy lifting to help to sell a book. None more so than Richard ‘Dicky’ Chopping’s iconic artwork for Ian Fleming’s Bond novels. His first commission for them was From Russia With Love and up until then, the previous covers…
Of Richard Chopping’s many beautiful illustrations, paintings and book jackets, none stand out more as his work for the 1955 volume 15 edition of the yearly The Saturday Book. These books of miscellany – published from 1941 to 1975, reaching 34 volumes – provided literary and artistic commentary about life in Britain during the Second World War…
Article by Patrick Vagg The campaign of a James Bond novel is often an important way to kick-start sales while also announcing to the world that the arrival of a new adventure of the super spy is imminent. The size and momentum of a campaign is often an indication of the expectation of the novel’s…
1. What is your favorite Chopping cover and why? My case for my kindle cleverly resembles Richard Chopping’s “Thunderball” cover thanks to a piece I read here: Luxury Kindle Covers featuring Richard Chopping’s original artwork I actually bought a kindle as a result of realizing that I could wrap it in a Chopping cover and…
This week, we are so delighted to welcome the artist and illustrator George Almond in from the cold, to talk about his remarkable illustrations that he did to accompany John Griswold‘s James Bond Annotations and Chronologies. He also has provide artwork for various James Bond magazines including Bondage Magazine and 007 Magazine. 1. Was Richard Chopping…
We are delighted to invite artist Freyja Dean to answer some questions about her stunning work on the book bench for the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Books About Town’ project. The campaign raised money for their charity supporting children’s literacy in collaboration with Wild in Art. Freyja was asked by the Ian Fleming estate to illustrate…
Sold at Christies in 2011 for 500 pounds ($799), this is a beautiful example of Chopping’s Trompe l’oeil style. Not much is known about this painting unfortunately, but perhaps more information will come to light. Several Chopping motifs are present however, including the wood background and the natural world. Botanists out there might be able…
Article by Ben Williams “For me, this is all the world. There is beauty, there is ugliness, and there is death.” – Stromberg, The Spy Who Loved Me. Whilst Stromberg himself was not a Fleming creation, these words sum up the visceral appeal of the dust covers commissioned by him and executed with panache by…
Artistic Licence Renewed 